As Italy gradually emerges from its two-month coronavirus lockdown, tourism operators in the hard-hit Val Seriana valley look ahead with trepidation at an uncertain summer season that could make or break them. An Associated Press photographer ventured into towns in Italy's hard-hit Bergamo province along the Orobie mountain range to capture residents' hopes — and doubts — as they await the return of summer visitors.

“It is a powerful tragedy that has touched chords that not even during the war had been touched,” says Claudio Trentani, a 57-year-old hut manager. He runs the Baita Cassinelli, an Italian Alpine Club mountain hut at the base of the 2,521-meter (8,271-foot) Mount Presolana, a 30-minute drive from the city of Bergamo.